Highland Railway

© Don Marshall 2011

ELEGANT STEAM

Castle Class - No 144 Blair Castle. This class of express passenger locomotives were designed by Drummond and introduced in 1900. The class continued to be built until 1917. The locomotives performed well over the Highland lines and No 144 was not withdrawn until 1936 (as LMS No 14679 in red livery) when the newly introduced Black 5's were taking over the duties.

Comparison with the Jones Goods illustration shows that Drummond introduced a new livery for Highland locomotives. The overall colour of "apple green" was not dissimilar to LNER green, but all the red lining disappeared and a rather dark olive shade was used for the border areas. A notable addition was that the railway ownership was displayed on the sides of the tenders.